'Start your engines'

Race track drives family time

Race track drives family time

June 04, 2006|ROBIN TOEPP Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- With the release Friday of Disney's animated "Cars," set in part at a racetrack, filmgoers may just head out to the South Bend Motor Speedway for some real-life racing experiences. They'll find thrills and excitement all night long. There's nothing like the jolt of a thunder car slamming into a concrete wall during a local race to make fans, especially kids, get an excited gleam in their eyes and yell out a "Woo hoo!" This is what they came to see, smashed-up metal hulks crashing into each other and the concrete outer wall, sending sparks shooting up into the air through the mesh safety fence. "This is just local Friday night racing," Rich Nyari says. The driver has been racing at the South Bend Motor Speedway's quarter-mile asphalt oval on and off for 20 years. Engine trouble plagued Nyari all week leading up to the season opener in April, but he came out to watch to keep tabs on the competition in case his car was ready for next week. Although most of the season is made up of Friday night racing with three different types of cars, the track also hosts such specialty events as demolition derbies. "It's so small, but you are going fast for a little track, and there's not a lot of room out there," Nyari says. "It's an adrenaline rush." And it's not just a thrill for the drivers, but for the fans, too. Local racing regulars armed with bleacher cushions, eager kids with blankets to keep off the evening spring chill came out for a night of racing. "I like the demolition derbies," 9-year-old Devin Nicholas of South Bend says on opening night. "I am waiting for a crash; that's why I come." Devin was at the speedway with a whole group including family and friends. As qualifying got under way, the kids sat back to watch. Meanwhile, farther up in the bleachers, David Coates of LaPorte sat with his two children, Madison, 4, and Andrew, 2. "My dad used to bring me out here when I was little, and it's something I want to pass on to my kids," Coates says. "It's fun. It's a competition thing." The kids, each wearing a NASCAR driver T-shirt, happily munched nachos while they waited for the racing to start. Because this is a short track, small groups of cars race in several "heats" that are six laps each before making the cut for the final 30-lap race. Some of the cars actually have fresh paint and prominently displayed sponsorship logos, which comes as a surprise at a local event on a less-than-well-maintained track that has weeds growing up through cracks in the concrete by the bleachers. Other cars have signs of wear and tear, with rust along the edges and racing numbers crudely spray-painted on the side doors. This is the track where NASCAR Nextel Series newcomer David Stremme got his start. The Stremme name is still announced, when other family members get behind the wheel from time to time. "You can progress up," Nyari says. "Tracks like Plymouth and New Paris have models like this, but they also have the next level up." The cars go about 70 mph, sometimes three wide heading into turns. Throughout the night, several drivers, showing their grit, make great passes -- a tough task given the limited time drivers have to get around one an other -- and shouts from fans cheering on their favorites echo through the bleachers. As the track narrows on the banked turns, cars fighting for the lead squeeze out others, spinning them sideways, kicking up cheers from the crowd and clouds of dirt and sand as cars slide through the infield. The Thunder Car race brings the checkered flag down on the night in a flash of sparks, blown engines and flat tires, the rumble factor rising a few notches. At the end of the night, drivers pack up their gear -- driving cars up onto flatbed trucks to haul home and ready them for another event. Excited kids jump down through the bleachers exclaiming how great that last crash was, while parents carry sleepy toddlers wrapped in blankets out to their cars.